1987 Navarrese regional election

The 1987 Navarrese regional election was held on Wednesday, 10 June 1987, to elect the 2nd Parliament of the Chartered Community of Navarre. All 50 seats in the Parliament were up for election. The election was held simultaneously with regional elections in twelve other autonomous communities and local elections all throughout Spain, as well as the 1987 European Parliament election.

1987 Navarrese regional election

10 June 1987
All 50 seats in the Parliament of Navarre 26 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered	393,326 3.6%
Turnout	286,722 (72.9%) 2.0 pp
Leader Gabriel Urralburu Juan Cruz Alli Iñaki Aldekoa Party PSN–PSOE UPN HB Leader since 15 June 1982 1987 1983 Last election 20 seats, 35.6% 13 seats, 23.3% 6 seats, 10.6% Seats won 15 14 7 Seat change 5 1 1 Popular vote 78,453 69,419 38,138 Percentage 27.7% 24.5% 13.5% Swing 7.9 pp 1.2 pp 2.9 pp   Leader Pablo García Tellechea Ignacio Cabasés Jaime Ignacio del Burgo Party CDS EA UDF Leader since 1987 1986 1986 Last election Did not contest Did not contest Did not contest Seats won 4 4 3 Seat change 4 4 3 Popular vote 21,022 19,840 17,663 Percentage 7.4% 7.0% 6.2% Swing New party New party New party
President before election Gabriel Urralburu PSN–PSOE Elected President Gabriel Urralburu PSN–PSOE

The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), under then-incumbent President Gabriel Urralburu, won the election for a second consecutive term, albeit with a diminished share of the vote (27.7%, losing nearly 8 percentage points from 1983) and losing 5 seats. The centre-right spectrum stood divided to the election: the Navarrese People's Union (UPN) maintained its second place with 24.5% and 14 seats (gaining one); the Foral Democrat Union (UDF), an alliance between the People's Democratic Party (PDP) and the Liberal Party (PL), formed after the breakup of the People's Coalition, obtained 6.2% and 3 seats. The People's Alliance (AP) suffered from this division and fell to 7th place (4.2% and 2 seats).

The Democratic and Social Centre (CDS), the party of former Spanish Prime Minister Adolfo Suárez, benefitted from this division and finished fourth, gaining 4 seats. Meanwhile, the left-wing Herri Batasuna (HB) also improved its position from 1983 and scored one of the best results for the abertzale left in Navarre. Eusko Alkartasuna (EA), a split from the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) formed in 1986 from PNV dissidents, entered the Parliament with 4 seats, while the small Eusko Alkartasuna also entered for the first time.

Overview

Electoral system

The Parliament of Navarre was the devolved, unicameral legislature of the Chartered Community of Navarre, having legislative power in regional matters as defined by the Spanish Constitution and the Reintegration and Enhancement of the Foral Regime of Navarre Law, as well as the ability to vote confidence in or withdraw it from a President of the Foral Deputation.[1] Voting was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over eighteen, registered in Navarre and in full enjoyment of their political rights.

The 50 members of the Parliament of Navarre were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with a threshold of 3 percent of valid votes[lower-alpha 1]—which included blank ballots—being applied regionally. Parties not reaching the threshold were not taken into consideration for seat distribution.[2]

The electoral law provided that parties, federations, coalitions and groupings of electors were allowed to present lists of candidates. However, groupings of electors were required to secure the signature of at least 1 percent of the electors registered in Navarre. Electors were barred from signing for more than one list of candidates. Concurrently, parties and federations intending to enter in coalition to take part jointly at an election were required to inform the relevant Electoral Commission within ten days of the election being called.[2][3][4]

Election date

The term of the Parliament of Navarre expired four years after the date of its previous election. The election Decree was required to be issued no later than the twenty-fifth day prior to the date of expiry of parliament and published on the following day in the Official Gazette of Navarre, with election day taking place between the fifty-fourth and the sixtieth day from publication. The previous election was held on 8 May 1983, which meant that the legislature's term would have expired on 8 May 1987. The election Decree was required to be published no later than 14 April 1987, with the election taking place no later than the sixtieth day from publication, setting the latest possible election date for the Parliament on Saturday, 13 June 1987.[1][2][3][4]

The Parliament of Navarre could not be dissolved before the date of expiry of parliament. In the event of an investiture process failing to elect a regional President within a two-month period from the first ballot, the candidate from the party with the highest number of seats was to be deemed automatically elected.[1]

Opinion polls

The table below lists voting intention estimates in reverse chronological order, showing the most recent first and using the dates when the survey fieldwork was done, as opposed to the date of publication. Where the fieldwork dates are unknown, the date of publication is given instead. The highest percentage figure in each polling survey is displayed with its background shaded in the leading party's colour. If a tie ensues, this is applied to the figures with the highest percentages. The "Lead" column on the right shows the percentage-point difference between the parties with the highest percentages in a given poll. When available, seat projections are also displayed below the voting estimates in a smaller font. 26 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Parliament of Navarre.

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size	Turnout					PNV		UDF				Lead
1987 regional election	10 Jun 1987	N/A	72.9	27.7 15	24.5 14	–	13.5 7	0.9 0	3.4 1	6.2 3	4.2 2	7.4 4	7.0 4	3.2
CIES/Diario de Navarra[p 1][p 2]	27–30 May 1987	1,195	71–74	29.0– 31.0 16/18	19.0– 21.0 10/12	–	14.0– 16.0 7/9	2.0 0	3.0– 4.0 0/2	7.0– 8.0 3/5	4.0– 6.0 2/4	7.0– 9.0 4/6	5.0– 7.0 3/4	10.0
Demoscopia/El País[p 3]	22–26 May 1987	?	70	30.4 17/18	32.3 18/19	–	12.9 6/7	–	3.7 0/2	–	5.0 2	8.4 4/5	2.9 0/2	1.9
Sofemasa/AP[p 4][p 5]	16 Apr 1987	?	?	29.6	5.5	–	16.6	–	–	–	20.3	14.8	–	9.3
1986 general election	22 Jun 1986	N/A	69.8	35.5 20	[lower-alpha 2]	29.6 17	13.9 8	1.8 0	2.8 0	[lower-alpha 2]	[lower-alpha 2]	9.6 5	–	5.9
1983 regional election	8 May 1983	N/A	70.9	35.6 20	23.3 13	14.1 8	10.6 6	6.8 3	2.4 0	[lower-alpha 2]	[lower-alpha 2]	–	–	12.3

Results

← Summary of the 10 June 1987 Parliament of Navarre election results →

Parties and coalitions		Popular vote			Seats
		Votes	%	±pp	Total	+/−
	Socialist Party of Navarre (PSN–PSOE)	78,453	27.68	–7.95	15	–5
	Navarrese People's Union (UPN)	69,419	24.50	+1.16	14	+1
	Popular Unity (HB)	38,138	13.46	+2.91	7	+1
	Democratic and Social Centre (CDS)	21,022	7.42	New	4	+4
	Basque Solidarity (EA)	19,840	7.00	New	4	+4
	Foral Democratic Union (PDF–PDP, PL) (UDF)	17,663	6.23	New	3	+3
	People's Alliance (AP)^1	11,985	4.23	–9.89	2	–6
	Basque Country Left (EE)	9,618	3.39	+1.02	1	+1
	Left Assembly of Navarre (B)^2	5,880	2.07	–1.07	0	±0
	United Left (IU)^3	3,802	1.34	+0.70	0	±0
	Basque Nationalist Party (EAJ/PNV)	2,661	0.94	–5.89	0	–3
	Workers' Party of Spain–Communist Unity (PTE–UC)	964	0.34	New	0	±0
Blank ballots		3,950	1.39	+0.70
Total		283,395			50	±0
Valid votes		283,395	98.84	+0.01
Invalid votes		3,327	1.16	–0.01
Votes cast / turnout		286,722	72.90	+2.04
Abstentions		106,604	27.10	–2.04
Registered voters		393,326
Sources[5][6]

Popular vote PSN–PSOE   27.68% UPN   24.50% HB   13.46% CDS   7.42% EA   7.00% UDF   6.23% AP   4.23% EE   3.39% B   2.07% IU   1.34% Others   1.28% Blank ballots   1.39%

Seats PSN–PSOE   30.00% UPN   28.00% HB   14.00% CDS   8.00% EA   8.00% UDF   6.00% AP   4.00% EE   2.00%

Aftermath

Investiture processes to elect the President of Navarre required for an absolute majority—more than half the votes cast—to be obtained in the first ballot. If unsuccessful, a new ballot would be held 48 hours later under the same majority requirement, with successive votes requiring only of a simple majority—more affirmative than negative votes—to succeed. If such majorities were not achieved, successive candidate proposals would be processed under the same procedure. In the event of the investiture process failing to elect a regional President within a two-month period from the first ballot, the candidate from the party with the highest number of seats was deemed to be automatically elected.[1]

As a result of the investiture process failing to provide a regional President within two months from the first ballot, Gabriel Urralburu was automatically elected on 30 September 1987 and officially sworn into office on 8 October.

Investiture Gabriel Urralburu (PSN)
Ballot →		30 July 1987	1 August 1987	3 August 1987	5 August 1987
Required majority →		26 out of 50	26 out of 50	Simple	Simple
	Yes • PSN (15)	15 / 50	15 / 50	15 / 50	15 / 50
	No • UPN (14) • HB (6) (from 5 Aug) • CDS (4) • EA (4) • UDF (3) • AP (2) • EE (1)	28 / 50	28 / 50	34 / 50	34 / 50
	Abstentions • HB (7) (until 3 Aug)	7 / 50	7 / 50	0 / 50	0 / 50
	Absentees	0 / 50	0 / 50	0 / 50	0 / 50
Sources[6]

Investiture Juan Cruz Alli (UPN)
Ballot →		20 August 1987	22 August 1987	24 August 1987	26 August 1987
Required majority →		26 out of 50	26 out of 50	Simple	Simple
	Yes • UPN (14) • UDF (3) • AP (2)	19 / 50	19 / 50	19 / 50	19 / 50
	No • PSN (15) • HB (6) (5 on 22 Aug) • EA (4) • EE (1)	26 / 50	25 / 50	26 / 50	26 / 50
	Abstentions • CDS (4)	4 / 50	4 / 50	4 / 50	4 / 50
	Absentees • HB (1) (2 on 22 Aug)	1 / 50	2 / 50	1 / 50	1 / 50
Sources[6]

Notes

1. The 1986 electoral law lowered the electoral threshold from five to three percent.
2. Within CP.

References

Opinion poll sources

1. "Ocho partidos estarán presentes en el Parlamento de Navarra". Diario de Navarra (in Spanish). 3 June 1987.
2. "Sondeos electorales CIES" (PDF). CIES (in Spanish). 22 May 2011.
3. "Unión del Pueblo Navarro se convierte en la primera fuerza" (PDF). El País (in Spanish). 4 June 1987.
4. "Una encuesta de AP pronostica un fuerte descenso del PSOE en las municipales". ABC (in Spanish). 17 April 1987.
5. "Notable descenso del PSOE en los próximos comicios, según una encuesta encargada por AP". ABC Sevilla (in Spanish). 17 April 1987.

Other

1. "Reintegration and Enhancement of the Foral Regime of Navarre Law of 1982". Organic Law No. 13 of 10 August 1982. Official State Gazette (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 June 2017.
2. "Parliament of Navarre Elections Foral Law of 1986". Law No. 16 of 17 December 1986. Official Gazette of Navarre (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 June 2017.
3. "General Electoral System Organic Law of 1985". Organic Law No. 5 of 19 June 1985. Official State Gazette (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 December 2016.
4. "Representation of the people Institutional Act". www.juntaelectoralcentral.es. Central Electoral Commission. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
5. "II Legislature (1987-1991)". parlamentodenavarra.es (in Spanish). Parliament of Navarre. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
6. "Elecciones al Parlamento de Navarra (Nafarroako Parlamentua) (1979 - 2019)". Historia Electoral.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 September 2017.